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United States Patent |
6,212,505
|
Herbert
|
April 3, 2001
|
Postage meter with removable print head and means to check that print head
is authorized
Abstract
A postage meter includes a printing device, for example an inkjet print
head cartridge having an integral ink supply, removable from the postage
meter by a user of the postage meter whereby a cartridge with a depleted
ink supply can be replaced with a cartridge having a full ink supply. The
printing device includes means storing a unique identification of the
printing device. The postage meter includes reading means to read the
unique identification of a printing device installed in the postage meter
to determine from whether the printing device is authorized for use in the
postage meter. The postage meter is operable to print postage indicia only
if the printing device is authorized for use in the postage meter.
Inventors:
|
Herbert; Raymond John (Leigh-on-Sea, GB)
|
Assignee:
|
Neopost Limited (Essex, GB)
|
Appl. No.:
|
070024 |
Filed:
|
April 30, 1998 |
Foreign Application Priority Data
Current U.S. Class: |
705/408; 705/410 |
Intern'l Class: |
G06F 017/00 |
Field of Search: |
101/71,91
235/101
705/401,408,410
347/5,7
|
References Cited
U.S. Patent Documents
3869986 | Mar., 1975 | Hubbard | 101/91.
|
4099049 | Jul., 1978 | Lowe | 235/101.
|
4813912 | Mar., 1989 | Chickneas et al. | 705/408.
|
4922817 | May., 1990 | Holodnak | 101/91.
|
5093560 | Mar., 1992 | Abellana | 235/101.
|
5188025 | Feb., 1993 | Murphy et al. | 101/91.
|
5731980 | Mar., 1998 | Dolan et al. | 705/410.
|
5901644 | May., 1999 | Etheridge et al. | 101/71.
|
6089687 | Jul., 2000 | Helterline | 347/7.
|
Foreign Patent Documents |
0 522 809 A2 | Jan., 1993 | EP.
| |
Other References
Shead, John; Ink jet printing comes of age; 12/1991; Pharmaceutical
Manufacturing Review, v3, n4, p19(2); DialogWeb copy pp. 1-3.
|
Primary Examiner: Trammell; James P.
Assistant Examiner: Dixon; Thomas A.
Attorney, Agent or Firm: Shoemaker and Mattare, Ltd.
Claims
What is claimed is:
1. A postage meter including accounting means and a printing module;
said printing module being removable from said postage meter by a user of
the postage meter;
electrical connection means for interfacing with electrical contacts on the
printing module when the printing module is mounted in the postage meter;
said printing module including identification means storing unique
identification information uniquely identifying said printing module;
said postage meter including reading means for reading the unique
identification information from the identification means and for
determining from the unique identification information if the printing
module is a printing device authorized for use in the postage meter and
said postage meter being operable to operate the printing module to print
postage indicia only if the printing device is authorized for use in the
postage meter.
2. A postage meter as claimed in claim 1 wherein the identification means
includes a semiconductor device secured to the printing module and storing
the unique identification information specific to said printing module.
3. A postage meter as claimed in claim 2 wherein the semiconductor device
is relatively fragile and including means for securing said semiconductor
device to the printing module and operative to ensure destruction of the
semiconductor device in any attempt to remove the semiconductor device
from the printing module.
4. A postage meter as claimed in claim 1 and including electronic control
means, operative in a postage printing routine, for reading the unique
identification information from the printing module, for checking that the
unique identification information identifies a printing device authorized
for use in the postage meter and for printing a postage indicium using
said printing module only if the printing module is an authorized printing
device.
5. A postage meter as claimed in claim 1 including electronic control means
operative each time the printing module is installed in the postage meter
to read the unique identification information from the printing module, to
check that the unique identification information identifies an authorized
printing device and to permit operation of the postage meter to print a
postage indicium only if the printing module is an authorized printing
device.
6. A postage meter as claimed in claim 5 wherein the electronic control
means is operative while the printing module is installed in the postage
meter to maintain a count of the number of postage indicia printed by the
printing module.
7. A postage meter as claimed in claim 6 wherein the electronic means is
operative to inhibit printing of postage indicia in response to the count
reaching a predetermined number.
8. A postage meter as claimed in claim 7 wherein the printing device
includes a memory and the count is stored in the memory.
9. A postage meter as claimed in claim 1 wherein the printing module
includes an ink jet printer and an ink supply for the ink jet printer.
10. A postage meter as claimed in claim 1 wherein the postage meter
includes a clock providing a real time date signal; the identification
means includes a date determination relating to use of the printing
module; and the postage meter is operable to print postage indicia only if
a predetermined relationship exists between the date determination read
from the identification means and the real time date signal.
11. A postage meter as claimed in claim 1 including electronic control
means, operable to control the printing module, for printing a postage
indicium on a mail item,
said electronic control means being operative in response to information
read from the identification means by the reading means to control the
printing module to print at least a part of said information in the
postage indicium.
Description
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
This invention relates to postage meters in which a print head utilized for
printing postage indicia is removably mounted on the postage meter.
Postage meters include electronic means for carrying out accounting
functions in respect of postage values which it is desired to apply to
mail items by operation of a printer. The electronic means also carries
out control functions for operation of the postage meter including
operation of the printer. The accounting and control is carried out in a
secure manner by housing the electronic means in a secure housing in order
to protect the integrity of accounting data generated by the accounting
means and to prevent fraudulent operation of the postage meter. It will be
appreciated that it is also necessary, or at least desirable, to ensure
that the printer cannot be operated to print postage indicia in respect of
values for which proper accounting has not been effected. Accordingly the
printer is usually housed, together with the electronic means, in the
secure housing.
Previously postage meters have been provided with a drum printer or a
thermal transfer printer for printing the postage indicia. With the drum
printer, ink for printing the postage indicia is supplied by means of a
replaceable absorbent roller containing liquid ink which rolls in contact
with print dies on the print drum. With thermal transfer printers, ink is
supplied as a layer on a replaceable ribbon which is fed past a thermal
print head for transfer of ink to the mail items. Both the ink roller and
the ink ribbon are removable from the postage meter by a user of the
postage meter for replacement by a new ink roller or ink ribbon
respectively. With both of these types of printer, the printer per se is
maintained secure by the secure housing. In the case of the drum printer,
mechanical elements for setting the printing elements of the printer are
not accessible by a user of the postage meter and in the case of a thermal
transfer printer, electrical connections to the print head for control and
operation of the print head are protected from access thereto.
It is now proposed, instead of drum printers or thermal transfer printers,
to use ink jet printing devices. Ink jet print heads are already used
widely as computer output printers where security of operation thereof is
neither a problem nor required. The ink jet print heads manufactured and
sold for use in computer output printers comprise a module including a row
of ink jet nozzles and means for ejecting selectively ink from those
nozzles. The module also includes electronic circuits for operation of the
ink ejection means and an ink supply to supply ink to the nozzles to
replenish ink ejected from the nozzles in printing. When the ink in the
ink supply is exhausted the entire module including the nozzles and
electronic circuits is removed and replaced by a new ink jet print head
module. It will be appreciated that the module is provided with electrical
connections which, when the print head module is mounted in the postage
meter, interface with similar connections of the postage meter.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
According to the invention a postage meter includes a printing device
removable by a user of the postage meter; electrical connection means
interfacing with electrical contacts on the printing device when the
printing device is mounted in the postage meter; said printing device
including identification means storing a unique identification of the
printing device; said postage meter including reading means to read the
unique identification from the identification means and to determine from
the unique identification whether the printing device is authorized for
use in the postage meter and said postage meter being operable to print
postage indicia only if the printing device is authorized for use in the
postage meter.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING
An embodiment of the invention will be described hereinafter by way of
example with reference to the drawings in which:
FIG. 1 is a block circuit diagram of a postage meter, and
FIG. 2 illustrates a removable ink jet print head module.
DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT
Referring first to FIG. 1 of the drawings, the postage meter includes
electronic accounting and control means comprising a micro-processor 10
operating under program routines stored in a read only memory (ROM) 11. A
keyboard 12 is provided for input of commands and data by a user and a
display 13 is provided to enable display of information to the user. A
random access memory (RAM) 14 is provided for use as a working store for
storage of temporary data during operation of the postage meter.
Non-volatile duplicated memories 15, 16 are provided for the storage of
critical data relating to use of the postage meter and which is required
to be retained even when the postage meter is not powered. The
microprocessor 10 carries out accounting functions in relation to use of
the postage meter for franking mail items with amounts of postage charges
applicable to handling of the mail items by the postal authority or
another carrier. Accounting data relating to use of the postage meter for
printing franking indicia representing postage charges for mail items and
any other critical data to be retained is stored in the non-volatile
memories 15, 16. The accounting data includes a value of credit, an
accumulated total of value used by the meter in franking mail items, a
count of the number of mail items franked by the meter and a count of the
number of mail items franked with a postage charge in excess of a
predetermined value. The value of credit may be a value of credit
available for use by the meter and stored in a descending credit register.
The accumulated total value used by the meter is stored in an ascending
tote register, the count of items is stored in a piece count register and
the count of items franked with a postage charge in excess of a
predetermined value is stored in a large items register. Alternatively, if
desired, instead of a descending register storing a value of credit
available for use by the meter, a total value of credit entered into the
meter may be stored in an ascending credit register.
As is well known in the postage meter art, each of the registers referred
to hereinbefore for storing accounting data is replicated in order to
enable integrity of the accounting data to be maintained even in the event
of a fault or termination of power to the meter during a franking
operation. Two replications of each of the registers are provided in each
of the memory devices 15, 16.
A motor controller 17 is controlled by the microprocessor 10 to control
operation of motors 18 driving feeding means (not shown) for feeding a
mail item past a stationary digital print head 19 or for moving the
digital print head in a translational movement relative to a print
receiving area of a stationary mail item. The digital print head 19 is a
removable print head connected to the postage meter by means of a
connector 20. The digital print head is preferably an ink jet print head
constructed as a module 21 as shown in FIG. 2. The module is provided with
a plurality of electrically conductive pads 22 which interface with
conductive elements of the connector 20 when the module 21 is mounted in
the postage meter. The ink jet print head includes a plurality of ink
ejection nozzles (not shown) from which ink may be ejected selectively by
means of the operation of electronic circuits in the module. The module
also contains a supply of ink to replenish ink ejected from the nozzles.
Sensors 30 are provided to sense and monitor feeding of the mail item, if
the print head is stationary, or to sense and monitor motion of the print
head, if the mail item is stationary. The sensors provide signals to the
microprocessor to enable the microprocessor to control feeding of the mail
item or motion of the print head and to output signals on bus 24 to
selectively operate the circuits in the print head module to eject ink
droplets from the nozzles at appropriate times as the mail item is fed
past the nozzles of the print head.
Electrical power is supplied to the electronic circuits of the postage
meter including the microprocessor, the print head module and the motor
control from a power source 25.
It will be appreciated, as is well known in the postage meter art, that the
postage meter must operate in a secure manner and be protected from
attempts to use the meter fraudulently for example by utilizing the
postage meter to print franking indicia on mail items for which no
corresponding postage charge has been accounted for by the accounting
means. Accordingly those parts of the postage meter required to be secured
against unauthorized tampering are housed in a secure housing 26.
In so-called prepayment operation of a postage meter, each time a franking
operation is to be performed, the microprocessor carries out a routine in
which a determination is made as to whether the value of credit in the
credit register in NVMs 15, 16 is sufficient to permit the franking
operation in respect of the required postage charge for a mail item to be
performed. If the value of credit in the credit register is sufficient,
the franking operation is continued and the accounting data in the
registers is updated to account for the postage charge and the franking
indicia is printed. However if the value of credit in the credit register
is not sufficient to permit the franking operation in respect of the
required postage charge to be performed, the operation is terminated and
the franking indicia is not printed. Where a value of credit available for
use in franking is stored in a descending register, the check as to
sufficiency of the credit available is effected by a determination of
whether the postage charge is less than the credit value. Where a total
value of credit is stored in an ascending credit register the check as to
sufficiency of credit is effected by a determination of whether the total
value of credit is at least equal to the sum of the postage amount and the
accumulated total value in the tote register.
As described hereinbefore, the print head module 21 includes an ink supply.
Accordingly when the ink supply is exhausted the module 21 must be removed
and replaced by a new module containing a full ink supply. Removal of the
used module and replacement by a new module needs to be effected by a user
of the postage whenever the ink supply becomes exhausted. It is desirable
that measures are taken to ensure that only authorized print head modules
are mounted in the postage meter. Accordingly the print head module is
provided with means uniquely identifying the print head module.
Conveniently the means uniquely identifying the print head module may be a
smart semiconductor device 23 secured to the module. The smart device 23
is so located on the module that, when the module is mounted operationally
in the postage meter such that the contact pads 22 of the module interface
with the connection elements of the connector 20, the smart device is in
communication with a sensor port 27 connected to the microprocessor 10. In
a postage indicium printing routine, the microprocessor reads data
recorded in the smart device and, if the unique identity of the print head
module read from the smart device is recognized by the microprocessor of
the postage meter, the microprocessor continues with the postage indicium
printing routine. If desired the unique identity read from the smart
device may be included in the printed postage indicium or other
information read from the smart device may be printed as a part of the
postage indicium. The information stored in the smart device may include
date of issue of the print head module, an expiration date after which the
print head module is not to be used and the serial number of the postage
meter in which the print head module is to be used. All or part of this
information may be included in the postage indicium. In addition the
postage meter may store in a register in the non-volatile memories 15, 16
a count of the number of postage indicia printed using the currently
installed print head module. This count may also be included in the
printed postage indicium. If desired and if the smart device can be
written to by the microprocessor 10, the microprocessor may write the
count of postage indicia to the smart device instead of or in addition to
storing the count in the non-volatile memories 15, 16. The information may
be stored in the smart device in encrypted form or the information may be
stored in non-encrypted form but be encrypted by the microprocessor 10
prior to printing the information in the postage indicium.
The postage meter may include a real time clock 31 whereby the
microprocessor may determine from date information read from the smart
device 23 whether the current date is within a period in which the
printing device is authorized to be used. If the current date is not
within the period of authorized use of the print head, the microprocessor
may inhibit further printing of postage indicia with the installed
printing device thereby requiring the user to replace the printing device
with a printing device having an acceptable date range.
As described hereinbefore, the microprocessor reads the unique
identification information from the smart device during a postage printing
routine. If desired the identification may be read in each postage
printing routine or may be read at each power up of the postage meter.
However if the identification is read only upon power up of the postage
means it would be necessary to provide an indication to the microprocessor
whenever a print head module is removed from and a print head module is
installed in the postage meter and to cause the microprocessor to read the
identification from the currently installed module prior to further
printing of postage indicia.
To prevent removal of the smart device from the print head module with the
intention of using the smart device in conjunction with an unauthorized
print head module, the smart device may be formed on a relatively fragile
substrate and secured to the module in such a manner that any attempt to
interfere with or remove the smart device would result in destruction of
the smart device.
The information, including the unique identity of the print head module, is
recorded on the smart device prior to distribution of the print head
module from a supply depot. The unique identity may include or comprise a
unique identification applied to the postage meter with which the module
is unauthorized to be used. The postage meter may utilize information read
from the smart device to determine the number of postage indicia printed
by the print head module and to inhibit printing utilizing that module
when a predetermined number of indicia have been printed. Also the postage
meter may utilize information read from the smart device to inhibit use of
the module after a predetermined date.
The smart device 23 may be of a type having electrical connections in which
case the port 26 includes electrical connections to interface with the
connections of the smart device. Alternatively the smart device may be of
a noncontact type in which case the port 26 is constructed to communicate
with the smart device in a non-contact manner by electromagnetic radiation
or the like appropriate to the smart device.
If desired access to the print head for removal and replacement thereof may
be controlled in a secure manner, for example, as described in co-pending
U.S. patent application Ser. No. 09/070,023 filed by Cyrus Abumehdi on the
same date as the present application and claiming priority from GB patent
application 9709051.8. The content of said co-pending U.S. patent
application is hereby incorporated herein.
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